Dear !*SALUTATION*! !*LAST_NAME*!,
As you could see from this rather long bulletin, there's a lot of events for the foreign business community in Japan coming up. Much thanks to an intensified cooperation between the Chambers, which benefits all members. And promise you, there's much more to come!

September Luncheon Meeting

Our September Luncheon is a joint Nordic meeting organized by the Danish Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
The guest speaker is Jesper Koll, Chief Economist, Merrill Lynch Japan and the theme of his presentation is:
"Japan - From Kamikaze Capitalism towards Post-Industrial Prosperity"

Before becoming the Chief Economist for Merrill Lynch in 1999, Jesper Koll was a Managing Director of Tiger Management L.L.C. and he was the Chief Economist and Head of Economic and Market Research for J.P. Morgan in Tokyo. He has been serving on several Japanese government advisory councils. Recently, he was chosen as a member of a task force within the Economic Planning Agency that reassesses the viability of the economic indicators now in use. His major published work includes Towards a New Japanese Golden Age.
If you would like to attend, and have not yet registered, please click link below.

There is a few slots still available in the first annual North American-Europe Golf Challenge in Japan, the DaimlerChrysler Cup, played on Friday, 26 September at Atsugi Kokusai C.C. in Kanagawa prefecture.
For futher information and registration, visit the dedicated website by clicking link below.
Participation is restricted to 72 Europeans and 72 North Americans in this inaugural challenge.
Note that registration is through the web site only, and you should do it at latest tomorrow Friday at 15:00!

The Japan Institute of Labour (JIL) annually holds seminars for executives and labor-management personnel of foreign affiliates in Japan. For this year, the program will focus on the recent revisions to the labor-related laws including the Labour Standards Law and the Worker Dispatching Law.
Details:

Date & Time:

Wednesday, 24 September 15:00-17:30

Place:

ANA Hotel Tokyo, Galaxy III, B1F

Cost:

free

A similar seminar will be held in Osaka on Friday, 26 September.
For more information on these seminars and registration form, please click link below.

The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan in cooperation with BLCCJ, CCCJ, NCCJ, FCCJ, SCCJ and SCCIJ:

"Architecture in Japan "

by Dr AA Sultan

The BCCJ invites members of other chambers to a joint luncheon meeting with the theme: "Architecture in Japan: A journey to the architecture of Japan, illustrating the cultural, planning and design concepts that form both the traditional and modern architectures, with examples from both architectures."
Details:

A practicing architect in Japan and the USA, Manny obtained masters and doctorate degrees in engineering (architecture) from the University of Tokyo in 1977 and 1980 respectively. He was awarded the 1995 Tokyo Architectural Design Excellence Award for his work on the Rolex Building in Tokyo. He is the designer of numerous projects, especially for foreign corporations in Japan.
For more info and registration, please click link at right to the BCCJ web site. Note that when you register you should respond NO at the prompt "Are you a Member?". This is because their system will require a BCCJ membership number if you respond YES. But you will be charged member fee.

Handelsbanken forecasts Finnish GDP growth accelerates 2004
Swedish banking group Handelsbanken predicts the Finnish economy will be towed to pretty robust, export-driven growth next year, the bank said in its report on Wednesday. The bank, however, slightly lowered its growth estimate for 2003 as the Finnish industry has to wait for a pick up in foreign demand.
Individual consumption will be the engine for growth in 2003, the bank said. It is expected to strengthen further next year, whereas investment spending is seen to recover slowly.
Handelsbanken now forecasts the Finnish gross domestic product to grow 1.8 per cent in 2003. The forecast for 2004 was lifted 0.4 percentage points to 3.1 per cent.

Another news from Finland...
Open Source Community Developing Their Own Viruses
By Brian Briggs
Helsinki, Finland - Open source developers plan to challenge
Microsoft's dominance in the world of viruses by developing
their own through the Open Virus Project (OVP), and unlike
proprietary Microsoft viruses, the open source versions will
infect across all platforms.
Heading the development of the OVP is Jukka Koskelin. He
explained, "We took a look at the virus marketspace and
realized that Microsoft has over a 95% share of all viruses
developed. I don't think the Linux community can be taken
seriously if we don't increase our share in that area...."

A final, and perhaps important note. I will take a couple off days of next week, combining with the long weekend. Will be back on Thursday 18th at around 15:00, All Nippon Airways permitting. I might be able to read my mail, but if you don't get response when you mail me, you know the reason (I couldn't...).
Best regards
Clas G. Bystedt

ABOUT THIS BULLETIN
This bulletin is published by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan (FCCJ) and distributed to over 500 recipients among its members and related organizations.
FCCJ was established in April 1999 to promote trade and economic exchange between Japan and Finland and has today 72 corporate members, 15 individual and one special member.